No Matter What You Do

Epilogue

I stare at the blinding ring on my finger. The moonlight coming through the closed blinds of the bedroom makes it shine in an ethereal way. One large diamond on a band of silver. I slip it off my finger and brush my thumb over the engraved words on the inside.

Forever

“I love you forever,” I whisper.

Cameron turns under the covers and envelopes my hand with his and lowers it. “I love you too, but will you ever fall asleep?”

I slide the ring on my finger again and tuck my cold arms under the comforter. “No.”

I have no idea how he can sleep. I mean, he proposed to me today! He proposed to me in New York City on New Year’s Eve! I should have suspected something when my father asked me to visit for the long weekend and how he bought both Cameron and me round-trip tickets. I was hoping he would do it soon but didn’t think he would choose a place so public. We went to see the ball drop. One moment the three of us were counting the seconds along with the crowd, and once we hit one, he was on his knee offering me this diamond. He said, “I wanted your first word of the year to be Yes when I asked you to be mine.”

“Yes,” I told him. “I’ve always been yours.”

I can still recall the way my heart quickened and my chest flooded with warmth. It took everything in me to hold back the tears that threatened to spill. Then I looked up to see my father, his phone, horizontal, aimed at us. He knew.

“Hey,” Cameron says, bringing me back to the present. “You really want to tell someone, don’t you?”

I roll into him and press my ringed hand against his bare chest. “I share everything with her.”

Under the covers, his hand finds my side, and he pulls me close. “Please wait until we get back. We already invited everyone over for dinner. That’s when we should tell Brandy. With everyone else.”

I groan and lean my head against his sweet-smelling chest. “How can I possibly keep this news to myself for ninety-six more hours?”

His hand lowers. “I’ll distract you.”

Two more days as tourists in New York and we fly back to Los Angeles. On the fourth day, we host a delayed New Year’s celebration-slash-engagement announcement. My mom, Jeremy, David, Brandy, and Cameron’s parents arrive a good twenty minutes before the time we gave them.

We live in an apartment building not too far from Santa Monica. That’s all we need until we think about adding more humans to our family. For now, it’s great.

Cameron switched his major early in his junior year to accounting, and he’s been making good use of his degree. Who knew the guy was so into numbers?

I am on a steady streak with my writing, having published two myself, one being the novel Brandy and I wrote, and traditionally published my more recent ones, two of which landed on a best seller list.

Anyway, we all gather in our living room after enjoying a salmon and rice dinner. Our close families take up all our sitting space, and both Cameron and I stand opposite them.

Brandy tilts her head once it gets silent. “You said something about pie for dessert?” Beside her, David smiles, kisses her temple, and squeezes her hand.

Cameron answers for me as I hold my hand behind my back. “Yes, cake too, but…”

I slide my ring from my back pocket and place it on the reserved finger. “What is the occasion?” Cameron’s mother asks.

“Did Lainey finish another book?” my mother cuts in.

“Oh my God! Girly, please let me read it!” Brandy says, nearly exploding out of her seat. It takes David’s full strength to keep her down, I’m sure.

“Not quite,” I say, feeling butterflies in my stomach. This is the moment I have waited for ever since Cameron proposed. To tell the people I love.

“Just spit it out,” David insists.

I suck in a breath and automatically look at Brandy. I have her attention immediately, and I watch as her sweet smile melts into realization. “Shit.” Her hands fly to her mouth, and her legs start to bounce.

No words can communicate the importance of this moment, so we do what we discussed. Cameron finds my hand and intertwines his fingers with mine. He pulls both of our hands up in front of us, my hand on the outside, ring fully visible. There is a second before our families notice, and when they do, they all get up from their seats. Faces filled with awe, surprise, and excitement. Brandy, however, is already halfway to me by that time. Cameron drops my hand as she rams into me, capturing me in a breath-stealing embrace. She doesn’t need to say a single word. Neither do I. I squeeze her just as hard. Afterward, she hugs Cameron. This starts three minutes of hugs and congratulations.

After we finish dessert, I pull Brandy away, and Cameron does the same with David. We give each other a knowing glance. I take her to the balcony. She grabs my hands.

“Oh my God, Lainey, I am so freaking happy!”

I have no doubts about it because of the tears forming in her eyes. My own eyes well up as we look at each other. The reality of this situation hits me as it did that night in New York. I am marrying the first man I ever loved. He was my first kiss for goodness’ sake, and I am going to be wed to him. It’s not just happiness that summons these tears either.

“Girly.” Brandy wipes a tear from my cheek. “I am so proud of you both. I mean, I literally watched you fall in love, then out, then in, then out, then in. It’s just—” She shakes her head to recover herself. “—it’s just amazing.” She goes in to hug me, and through the glass door I see Cameron walking out of a room with David. My brother’s arm is slung around Cameron’s shoulders tightly, a giant smile on both their faces. Almost as if he can sense me looking, Cameron raises his brows to me, smiles, and gives a signal to hurry up.

Brandy and I separate, and she tucks a loose hunk of blonde, now long, hair behind her ear. “So, what’s up?”

I reach into my bra and pull out a small, folded paper and hand it to her. She tilts her head in question, but I urge her to open it. “First of all, I have never fallen out of love with him.” She begins to unfold it. “Ever since freshman year, I have been into to-do lists.”

“Okay,” she drawls.

“And that is my to-do list for today.”

She opens the paper fully and reads. “Tell my family I’m engaged.” She sniffs and hesitates at the last item. She drops her hands to her side. “Ask my best friend to be my maid of honor.” She folds the paper back up and tucks it safely in her own bra with a chuckle. “Of course,” she exclaims and hugs me for what feels like the hundredth time today.

“I won’t hold you to all the planning,” I say as we pull apart. “I can organize the bachelorette party and the wedding for the most part?—”

“Not alone. No, I won’t have you overwhelmed, so you tell me what you want, and I’ll put it together.” She grips my shoulders. “And I already have so many ideas for your bachelorette party!”

“Already?” She’s been my maid of honor for less than thirty seconds.

“You don’t think I’ve been brainstorming since you met Cameron? Girly, if you’d have asked anyone else to be your maid of honor, I would have started a war over that position. You deserve the absolute best, and that’s what I plan to give you.”

I can’t help the smile pulling at my lips. “I would do the same for you, Brandy.”

“I know,” she sighs. “That’s why you’ll be my maid of honor.”

Tears threaten to spill again. Brandy breaks out into laughter and smacks me on the back. “Can I ask who else is in the bridal party?”

I can’t help my grin. “I was planning to ask a couple of my cousins, Tamara, and maybe Brazely. I wanted more, but also thought it would be better small.”

“Brazely?” Brandy says the name like it’s a bad taste. As if Brazely hasn’t been our friend since sophomore year. Surprisingly, Brazely was able to work on herself enough that Tamara took her back, though. And ever since I helped her at Stef’s party my first year of college, she’s been good to me.

“She evolved. I’ve forgiven her, and I thought you did too. She cleaned up your puke, Brandy.”

She shrugs. “She’s fine, but I don’t know. I like to hold a grudge against people who mess with my best friend.” She doesn’t give me time to respond before she grabs my wrist. “Let’s get you to your fiancé.”

We return inside.

“Yeah, also I’m going to need to see that bucket list,” Brandy says matter-of-factly.

“Why?”

“Because if you think your bachelorette party is going to be a one-night, male-stripper kinda deal, you are greatly mistaken.” She pauses for a beat. “I also need to see the video your dad took of your engagement.”

I don’t even bother to ask her how the hell she knows. She just does, and it fascinates me.

Cameron and I reunite with the rest of the guests and he wraps his arms around my waist while the others engage in conversation. “Why did it take you so long out there? I was starting to think I’d never see you again.”

“Don’t be so dramatic. I’ll always come back to you.” I almost say more but get distracted by his dilated pupils. I stare into those eyes for what seems like minutes until he breaks contact.

“What do you think about a dog?”

The randomness of his question throws me off for a split second.

He continues. “I mean, before we have our five children we should get a Golden Retriever.”

Heat rises to my cheeks. “We can do that, but I’m not having five kids.”

He beams at me and holds me tighter around my middle. “Fine. Four kids and a Golden Retriever. Oh, and a cat. For my parents. Scottish Fold to be precise because they’re absolutely adorable.”

The lump growing in my throat makes it difficult to swallow. “You’ve thought about this quite a lot.”

He taps my nose and lets me go. “Of course I have,” he says before Brandy walks up to us.

She starts speaking, but I’m momentarily sidetracked by my fiancé’s existence. That he’s standing here next to me. My heart swells until I think it might burst. I am his and I cannot believe he’s mine.

THE END